Be Determined

Lent is a time of learning and growth. Being a Christian I try to spend time in Lent improving myself. I usually give up alcohol as this helps me to maintain a clear mind. But Lent, despite what you may have heard is not just about about denial. Like most I am following a Lent course which if you have read my previous posts you will know is about William Wilberforce and his faith.
The course seeks to portray values that we could inherit personally by examining the values of William Wilberforce in the light of his faith. He was instrumental in stopping the trade in slaves two hundred years ago and was driven to this by his personal beliefs. It is what he believed that made his opinions differ from those around him. As a person he was defined by what he believed in.
In this day and age there is a great temptation not to believe in anything, especially if you live in the well to do part of the globe. The Bible offers many good moral outlooks and is rich in stories of what is right and wrong, good or bad. Reading the bible and getting to know it offers a way that my faith can determine me, that is work me out and make me something new. What it is and what it does is the great challenge of Lent.
Being determined by any set of values requires me to understand them well and try hard to live by them. This can be awkward, costly and even painful, people do not always understand. William Wilberforce would have known this all too well. But despite this he followed his faith and was determined by it. So, don't just be determined in faith, be determined by faith.

Peace Dave

Bible Temptation

I listened to a priest preaching last night about Jesus being tempted during his time in the wilderness. The sermon centred on the fact that Jesus countered the Devil with quotes of scripture that he had obviously memorised. Thus the literal word of God was used to defeat the Devil. The priest then went on to talk about us and the constant temptation coming our way in life. His suggestion was that we should keep a constant contact with the bible and attempt to actually learn passages by heart so that we could as we felt necessary use them to fend off temptations.
What I started to feel was the general lack of bible knowledge that I have ( what many call scripture) let alone how much I could actually call upon for a specific purpose. Like many Christians I have read the Bible in bite size chunks for ages and listen to epistles and readings regularly at church. What I don't do is memorise it. To illustrate my point tell some one a story from the bible ( any story) without referring to the bible while you do it.
In our culture we don't remember things in detail, probably because there is just too much to know. But this got me thinking just how close are we to the knowledge in the bible and how do we apply it in daily life if we don't know it well. Thinking of William Wilberforce and my Lent course, I wonder how well he knew his bible and how many times he had to go scuttling off to read up on the fine print when he arguing about slavery.
I suspect his knowledge of the bible was better than mine. I also think that the priest has a rel event point we should be far more aware of the knowledge in the bible and far more able to apply it, even to the point of utilising specific pieces to ward off temptations. The Bible is our resource after all. I suggest that you make a little time this Lent to read and digest something from the bible. See how well you can remember it, maybe surprise someone you know with a bible story - they might like it.

Peace Dave.